This invention relates to a locking mechanism for preventing the theft of a roll-off skid.
There is in widespread use today a roll-off skid which may take a variety of forms. At the present time the most common form of skid is a waste collector sometimes referred to as a roll-off waste container. The container is rather large and is carried to a trash collection site on a roll-off hoist truck. The container is rolled off the truck and onto the ground at the site; when it has been filled, the truck returns, couples to the container and pulls the container back onto the bed of the truck, and then removes the container to a landfill, for example, where it is emptied. The container is normally used repeatedly in this manner.
In addition to waste containers, other forms of roll-off skids include, for example, a roll-off job box and a roll-off flat bed. A job box is an enclosed container with an access door in it, which is used by a contractor to transport and store tools at a job site. A roll-off flat bed on the other hand may simply be a flat bed used to carry building supplies, for example, to a job site. For the present purposes, the term roll-off skid is used herein to designate all structures of this type.
Roll-off skids of this nature have large, sturdily built metal bodies and they are relatively expensive, particularly if they contain tools and/or supplies. Since they are expensive, they are also subject to being stolen and this has become a serious problem. It has become the practice for a thief to drive a hoist truck of the type normally used to transport such a skid to a job site during the night, for example, couple to a skid and pull the skid onto the truck, and then drive away. The identification numbers on the skids may then be removed and the skids repainted, and then the skids may be sold by the thief to another party.
Numerous locks have been designed to prevent the theft of trailers. For example, a trailer having a ball coupler may have a lock installed which covers the ball when the trailer is not in use for the purpose of preventing a thief from coupling to the ball. The following listed patents show a variety of locks for the purpose of preventing the theft of trailers and other types of vehicles.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. PATENTEE DATE ______________________________________ 4,774,823 Callison 10/04/88 4,693,096 Mercer 09/15/87 4,538,827 Plifka 09/03/85 4,480,450 Brown 11/06/84 4,409,804 Sork 10/18/83 4,380,160 Hoffman 04/19/83 4,376,544 Sette et al. 03/15/83 3,782,761 Cardin, Sr. 01/01/74 2,571,349 Eckles 10/16/51 ______________________________________
However, to the knowledge of the inventors there has not previously been available a lock for preventing the theft of a roll-off skid.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a new and effective lock for such a skid.